Christmas Challenge Shorts
by Bookworm1978
Summary: My attempt at the TMNT Advent Calendar Challenge. Just a way for me to get over my fear of what people would think of my writing and actually post something! Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!
1. Chapter 1

Hey, Mikey."

"Hey, Leo."  
The older turtle sat on the edge of the roof and looked up. Snow tumbled down on his upturned face. Already, it was starting to gather along the shoulders of his navy blue coat. "You missed supper." He said, not looking at the younger turtle. "April's worried about you."

"Tell her I'm fine."

"You tell her."

"Why don't you want to tell her?"

Leo finally looked his way; the tone in his normally obnoxiously cheerful brother was both worrying and, honestly, kind of grating on his nerves. He just wasn't used to him whining, well whining like this. "I'm nicknamed fearless, that don't mean I'm suicidal. You know how April can be when she becomes a mother hen."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Mikey sighed, slumping lower in his scarf. "I just want to be, you know. Alone. In the snow. "

"Okay." Leo shrugged. Waiting a moment he added with a wry grin. "I'll join you."

"Dude that is not being alone."

"Tough."

Mikey sighed again and somehow seemed to slink further. Leo wondered if he was trying to hide in his shell. The snow laid around him in gathering heaps, and collected on his shoulders and hat. Finally he gave a frustrated sigh. "Oh, come on. You can't be this upset over the death of a comic book character!"

"But Atom Adam was the coolest"


	2. Candy Canes

Red.

Green.

Red.

Green.

Red.

White.

Red.

White….what?

Donnie blinked and looked back. Mikey's door is normally plastered with various posters. Now it was covered with candy canes. There were literally hundreds of candy canes all over his door. There were all kinds, all colors, and all sizes. It fairly boogled the genius's mind to think of how long it took to glue each and every one in such an integrated design on the door.

He thought about knocking, maybe asking for the meaning behind the strangeness. Then, he shrugged and continued to the kitchen where his beloved idol, the coffee pot stood. He was fairly certain that with so much sugar on the outside, he didn't really want to know what was on the inside.


	3. Mistletoe

Donatello stepped back, tilting his head to the side to get a better feel for the effect of his newest work. After a moment's consideration, he nodded. Leaning forward, he took up the step ladder and moved it to another part of the room.

Leo, who been watching his brother's actions for the last half hour now, shook his head. Do I even want to know?" He asked, at last.

"Know?" Donnie asked innocently as he busied himself with climbing the ladder again.

"Do I want to know why you are tying those ugly plants all over the lair?" Leo asked, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, you mean this plant?" Donnie asked, looking at the sprig of mistletoe that was in his hand at the moment. "It's not ugly. It's actually called Viscun album, and often grows on trees, and shrubs, often gaining it's nutrients from..."  
Leo held up a hand. "Okay, spare me the botany lession. All I want to know is, what you think you will accomplish with this?"  
"Well, you know." Donnie faltered for a moment. Then he grinned. "Well, April will be over Christmas eve you know. I worked on a new flow chart so that every possible outcome of that day would be..."  
"Not again!"  
"Would be planned beforehand for maximum, well, affect to get her to like me."

"You are crazy." Leo sighed, going back to his book.

"Well, crazy or not, the first one still works, and this one will too." Donnie said, climbing down again, and looking this one over as before.

"Aww, Donnie. I didn't know you cared!" Mikey chimed a wicked gleam in his eyes. Before his brother could react, he kissed Donnie's check, and ran off, laughing maniacally.

Donnie spent the rest of the day scrubbing his face and giving Mikey evil looks. Leo spend much of the rest of the day snickering behind his book. This was a bit unnerving to Raph when he was watching TV. What was so funny about _The Art of War_?


	4. Chapter 4

4. Scarves

"Raph, I'm going out to…."Mike said as he walked in the room that he and his brother shared. He stopped and stared at his brother, who whipped something behind his back. "What you doing?" He asked quickly.

"Nothing!"  
The two stared at each other for a long time. Mike with open curiosity, Raph with a strange mix of quilt and belligerence.

Finally, Raph broke the silence with a bellowed, "Get Out now!"  
"Fine, Grumpy." Mike sulked, heading for the door, and evidently forgetting what he was going to ask. Before he left though, he glanced back with an impish smirk. "You should talk to Donnie. He knits too. You can make scarfs or something...Yikes!"

"I'll show you what I'll do with em!" Raph roared, chasing after him, a pair of knitting needles in one hand and a demonic look in his eyes.


	5. Christmas Tree

5. Christmas tree

"Oh Christmas tree, my Christmas tree! Lit up like a…"  
"Will you knock it off?!"

"Aww, Raph, don't be such a Scrooge!"  
"If being a Scrooge means stapling your mouth shut after two hours of non-stop singing, then bah humbug."

Donnie worked on, oblivious to the bickering that went on at the other side of the room. His hands and arms were full of strands of lights, which he was busy untangling. As the only one with both the patience and the dexterity to finish it without hanging himself with them, he was the one designated with the annual task of, as Mikey called it, twinkly light maintained. Though, it was not like any of the others was fighting for the job either. Leo wondered at his obliviousness, until he noticed that the repaired T-Pos was there too. No wonder, he mused.

Leo was busy sorting through the ornaments, and tossing out all the brokens. He was having a far harder time tuning out the other two, however. He already tried to get them to shut up a few times, and that only seemed to make things worse, as Raph would only turn on him and start griping at him next.

In the background the TV was playing some Christmas special, and there was an annoying song on right now that was now officially stuck in Leo's head. The tree, if you can call it that, was half-assembled, and Raph and Mike were busy trying to get the rest of it up

Mikey stuck his tongue out at Raph and started singing again. Raph growled, and stuck the branch he was holding in a tree that would have been painful if the tree had any way if feeling it. Then he got an evil grin on his face, and turned to look at Mikey. Mikey fell silent, and stepped back a couple of paces. "Um, what are you up to…" he said, holding his hands up.

"Oh, nothing. I was just saying to myself how much better you would look with some decorations..." Raph grinned, and picked up another branch.

"Um, I want cookies. Does anyone else want cookies? I'll go bake a batch." Mike said hurriedly, and ran for the kitchen. He spent a long time in the kitchen

By the time he was done, the tree was set up, the decorations were underway, and Raph had a rather insufferably smug expression on his face.


	6. Eggnog

Eggnog

Mikey looked at the stuff with wide, blue eyes. Tentatively, he tapped the side of it, and watched the white stuff move sluggishly about. Hmm. He got a spoon and stirred it slowly. It stirred well enough, but seemed pretty thick: not cake dough thick, but more like milkshake thick. He was the proud recipient of that level of deliciousness when April surprised them all with some last week. And this stuff is definitely more line that.

He looked at April now, with huge questions in his eyes. "She giggled. "Come on, taste it." She said encouraging.

"What is it?" He asked, glancing at it again.

"Eggnog. We drink it on Christmas."  
"But Christmas is weeks away!"  
"Humans drink it for Thanksgiving too, so I think it's okay, until after New Year's."

"Oh…well, sure! I'm game!"

He bravely took a sip, and his eyes widened. The next minute, the glassful was gone, and he was looking around for more.

"Well, I know what to bring more off." She said, giggling again. "You should have seen how much Leo liked it!"

"And Raph?" Mikey asked, looking curious.

"He didn't seem terribly interested. Neither did Donnie, come to think of it."  
Mikey blinked at that. "Why not?"

"Guess he was busy with something. When I saw him walking into the living room, I stood up to offer him some, but he just stared at me, mumbled something, and walked away again. Weird."

And for once, Mikey decided to not say a word.

(I know my drabbles have been kind of short, and well, not as good as I would like, especially after seeing how good some of the others working on the challenge have been. But soon, I will have a break from school, and that would mean more time to write. YAY! So I'm hoping to better soon. Thanks for all the kind responses, and everything!)


	7. Family

(I don't like this one. I wasn't even going to put it up, but I liked the basic idea enough to post it. Please, if you feel you know how to fix it, let me know. I don't want to get in the habit of asking for reviews, but I do want this one to work. Thanks)

7. Family

Raph was not a sentimental kind of turtle. He was also not much of a creative turtle. At least that was what his brothers believed. So it came as a surprise to all of his family, even Spinter, when he started going around with a camera, taking pictures. When asked, he just told them to shut up, all but with Splinter anyway. With him, he would get all gruff and embarrassed and mumble something about working on something.

So, he was left alone. And Raphael took as many pictures that the disposable camera allowed him to. He disappeared for weeks afterward, save for practice and patrols. And then, he acted very mysterious. By then, however, he was not the only one acting strange.

Michelangelo started living in the kitchen, with April for so long that Donnie took to glaring at his Brother when he thought nobody was looking. And the smells that was coming from there caused may a mouth to water in anticipation, though nothing new really showed up, save a new kind of stew.

Donatello was holed up in his lab/library/workshop for hours himself. Of all of them, he was the only one that started skipping practice even, and had to do extra flips for his tardiness, when he could be reminded to join them.

Of them all, Leo seemed to act the least strange. He went to practice as normal, and made sure the others did too. He hid in his room, but he already was in the habit of going there to meditate, and the others assumed that that was what he was doing still.

So the weeks passed, and Christmas came at last. And the strange behavior was finally explained. April had been privately telling each turtle about what went on at Christmas topside. And the fruits of the discussions were found under the much-abused Christmas tree in the form of mounds of presents.

Leo had gone so far as to wrap each of his brothers' presents in their signature color. His were a set of poems that he had meticulously written and copied with homemade paper and the Japanese way of writing, with an ink brush.

Donatello had used his masterful tinkering and made various appliances for his brothers', and managed to actually design a game for Mike.

Mikey wrote a cookbook, out of all the recipes that he worked on under April's tutelage. And lots of goodies were ready for that day's breakfast. Algae was in only one dish that year.

But it was Raph's that took stage that day. He made a photo book and turned it into a scrapbook, with tons of photos of his brothers and scraps of papers talking about them and their day-today, of Splinter, and of their new friends. The title was "A Record of My Family" It was much praised, from the attempt at making a leather cover to the paper, though Leo teased that he must have taken some from his supply. It was proudly kept on the Dining room table for years.


	8. Presents

"Donnie?"

"What is it?"

"What's your favorite present?"  
"Present?"  
"Yeah, what gift did you get that was your favorite?"

Donnie paused in his work. He glanced over at Leo, who had asked the question with a puzzled frown. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I know April had been telling us about her Christmases before, and about her favorite Christmas gifts and it just made me wonder. What was mine, you know? And that made me want to know what yours were."

"And what are yours?"  
"No, no, I want to hear yours first of all." Leo grinned and added, "After all, I asked first."

Leo and Don were both very reserved by nature, of all the brothers, and as children, they had created a rule when asking questions or conversing. IF one asked a question, the other had to answer it or neither would have really answered the other's questions. They would just keep asking back to each other, not wanting to answer themselves.

Donnie frowned in thought. At last, he said in a slow, nervous way. "Well, I don't really know. I, well, I guess my computer, if its material things you mean. Or maybe some of my favorite books. But they are not really my favorite gifts."

"What is then?"

"Imagination, I guess."

"Why do you say that?"

"Don't you have a question limit before the other have to ask?" Donnie asked, starting to sound irritated.

"Please? I really want to know."

"Because it helped make our lives down here more than they would have been otherwise. Because without it, we would have never tried to improve anything about our homes or lives, you know? I mean, over half of the things I invented was just to try to make our home better. Not," he added hastily, his face flushing darkly, "that I'm trying to brag or anything..."

"Leo shook his head, to let him know he didn't take it that way. Donnie grinned sheepishly, and added after a moment's pause. "Well, what is yours?"

Leo leaned on the door frame. "First, before I answer, I think we are more alike than I first realized. That's pretty cool, huh?" At Donnie's nod, Leo continued, "And second. Well, my favorite present is my family. Sappy as that sounds, I guess."

"Why?" Donnie asked, curiously.

"I'm starting to think there is no real reason why, to be honest. It just is."  
"Yeah. Yeah, I think I understand what you mean."

And in that moment, the two brothers really did understand the other, without any more words needed.


	9. Stars

(I don't own the Turtles. I might as well start saying that. Also don't own Shrek, or any of the dialog from the movie. Just borrowed it. I'm putting it back now.)

"The stars don't tell the future, Donkey.

They tell stories. Look, there's Bloodnut,

the Flatulent. You can guess what he's

famous for.

"I know you're making this up."

"No, look. There he is, and there's the

group of hunters running away from his

stench."

"Geesh, when are ya going to be done watching this crap, Mikey?" Raph grumbled as he stormed into the living room. "You seem this movie a thousand times at least!"

"Shush!" Mikey snapped, giving his brother an annoyed glare. "This is my favorite part!"

"Raph snorted again, and flopped on the couch, causing that tired piece of furniture to make groaning complaints. "Yeah? What's so great about it?"

"It's when Shrek and Donkey are looking at the starts and bonding and becoming friends and stuff. And it's really funny too, not just sappy." Mikey said, eagerly, because it really was his favorite movie and hurriedly so he can go back to watching it.

Raph grew quiet and the two watched the rest of the movie in comparable silence. Raph wasn't really paying much attention to the movie. He was thinking about his younger brother and how he is kinda like a star himself, all bright and sparkling and cheerful. He didn't tell Mikey any of this. For one thing, it would make him look like a huge sap. But afterwards, when he looked up at the stars, and the light pollution wasn't ruining the view of them, like it has a habit of doing, he would think of his baby brother, and smile.


	10. Toboggan

"That is not a word, Don!"

"Of course it is a word, Raph! I don't cheat."  
"I'm starting to doubt that one."

"What does it mean?"  
"It's another word, for sled, Mikey."

"Then why didn't you just spell sled, dude?"

"I wouldn't get nearly as many points."

Mikey rubbed head as though it ached at the mere thought of that word. "It makes my brain ache."

Raph snorted. "Everything makes that head of yours ache, shell brain." Turning to Donnie he added in a snarl. "I still think your making that word up!"

Donnie's face bore an unmistakably smug expression on his face as he looked with pride at the word, tobogan, on the scrabble board. Leo, who was appointed rule keeper, looked up from the dictionary he was thumbing through. "Raph," he said at last, trying very hard to sound authoritative despite his ten years. "Donnie is right. That is a real word. And Donnie, You spell it wrong, though. You forgot a g."

At his brother's expression, Leo finally let himself start laughing. He didn't stop for several long minutes.


	11. Stockings

"The stockings were hung by the chim..."  
"What are stockings? Raph asked, interrupting Donnie at their reading lesion.

Splinter looked at the little five year old turtle, and sighed. "They are like socks." He explained. "Continue, Donatello."

"But wouldn't socks, I mean storkings, be better on feet?" Leo asked, before Don could start reading again, He looked rather confused. "Why are they hanging up?"  
"Stockings." Donnie corrected, before Splinter had a chance to answer. "Not storking. Maybe they needed to be washed. And they are hanging up because the people who owned them are drying them?"

"Huh?" Mikey asked, scratching his head. "I thought this was about Christmas."

"The book has a picture, see? There are the socks near a fire, and fires are used to dry things. Right, Master Splinter?" He added, looking at their Master hopefully.

Splinter finally got a chance to explain what the stockings were for. He also made a mental note to observe Donatello's education more closely. That was very good logic for a five year old, he thought.


	12. Chocolate

"Oh….Make it stop!" Mikey moaned as he lay sprawled on the sofa holding his stomach. "Make it stop!"

"It would be better if you take the tea." Leo said sternly. His expression though was sympathetic.

"But Splinter's teas are so gross!" Mikey whined.

"That's it." Raph grumbled, and headed for the door.

April moved out of his way and resumed staring at the scene before her in frank surprise. Seeing Donnie nearby, she hurried to his side. "What is going on?" She demanded.

"Oh! April!" Donnie smiled, then his expression turned sheepish, um, well, actually that is a very good question. Well, Mikey's, well, he's not feeling too good…"

"What happened? Is it a flu bug?"

Um…" You know that chocolate you left for the party tomorrow?"

"Sure. What about it?"  
Well….he ate it."  
"He ate...Donnie; there was over ten bags in there!"

"Yeah, well…now there is one…"


End file.
